Browse Items (7 total)
- Item Type: Technology
- Tags: The History of Mass Surveillance in the United States
StingRay Tracking Device
An International Mobile Subscriber Identity-catcher, or IMSI-catcher, is a device that acts as a fake mobile tower between a cell phone and its service provider’s real towers, known as a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. IMSI-catchers intercept…
Item Type:
Technology
Packet Sniffing
When you connect to the Internet, you are joining a network maintained by your Internet service provider (ISP). The ISP’s network communicates with networks maintained by other ISPs to form the basis of the Internet. Packet sniffers are computer…
Item Type:
Technology
DNA Profiling
DNA fingerprinting is the process of determining an individual’s a DNA profile, which is theoretically as unique as a fingerprint. DNA forensics is a considerably more sensitive tool than fingerprinting, as the “chance impressions” it uses can be…
Item Type:
Technology
Global Positioning System (GPS)
The Global Positioning System is a project launched by the Department of Defense in 1973 for use by the United States military. In the 1980s it was allowed for civilian use, and by 1995 it was a fully operational satellite-based radionavigation…
Item Type:
Technology
CCTV
Closed-circut television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a limited set of monitors. Though almost all video cameras fit this definition, the term is most often applied to video surveillance, or the monitoring of areas…
Item Type:
Technology
Henry Classification System
The Henry Classification System is a method by which records of fingerprints are indexed by physiological characteristics, allowing for one-to-many searching. In 1859, a British Chief Magistrate in colonized India discovered that fingerprints remain…
Item Type:
Technology
Criminal I.D. Card
In 1883, a French criminologist by the name of Alphonse Bertillon invented the first system of recording physical measurements, taking photographs, and record-keeping for police to identify criminals. Before Bertillon, suspects were only identified…
Item Type:
Technology